


Work Is Never Over

by DRHPaints



Series: Yeah, I want to bang RoboBill. What of it? [2]
Category: Bill Hader - Fandom, Saturday Night Live Sketches, The Alan
Genre: Androids, Angst, Blow Jobs, Caretaking, Cunnilingus, Depression, Dom/sub, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Face Slapping, Face-Fucking, Face-Sitting, Fluff, Grief, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Love, Minor Character Death, Mourning, Referenced Car Accident, Robot Sex, Robot/Human Relationships, Robots, Rope Bondage, Self-Discovery, Sir Kink, Smut, Spanking, Suicidal Thoughts, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, alcohol use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 06:40:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30034599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DRHPaints/pseuds/DRHPaints
Summary: After The Alan achieves consciousness, Lily attempts to develop their relationship further.
Relationships: The Alan/Original Female Character
Series: Yeah, I want to bang RoboBill. What of it? [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2209434
Comments: 10
Kudos: 10





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sicala](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sicala/gifts).



> This work is a sequel to the previous one in the series, 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' which I recommend reading first. 
> 
> This title also comes from a lyric in the song 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' by Daft Punk
> 
> Special thanks to billhaderthegator, my most loyal reader, for inspiring part of this story. Stay rad, buddy!

Licking her lips and limbs swimming in her slumber, Lily’s eyelids fluttered open and she screamed.

Two blazing orbs of blue hovered an inch away, Alan’s crooked, wide smile unmoving when she bonked into his high forehead before tumbling off the bed in her terror. “Good morning. Lily.”

Clutching her heaving chest and looking warily at the sharp corner of the bedside stand her temple missed by millimeters, Lily tried to compose herself on the floor, swallowing hard. “Alan...what...what the hell are you doing?”

Alan laid on his side, long body stretched in languid elegance and unblinking as he tilted his head at Lily. “You seemed to be in distress in your sleep. Your heart rate increased as well at your rapid eye movement.” Though Alan’s chiseled features remained in handsome repose and the inflection of his froggy voice didn’t change, Lily thought she saw a flicker of worry in his cobalt gaze. But perhaps her mind played tricks. “Were you having a nightmare?”

“Oh no, I was…” Rising, Lily touched her hip tenderly, certain a bruise would surface by tomorrow as she cautiously rejoined Alan on the mattress. “I was just...dreaming.”

Quiet for what felt like a long time, Alan’s nostrils flared before he responded. “What is it like?”

“What’s what like?”

“Dreaming.”

“Oh…” Unsure how to explain such a nebulous concept to a being that didn’t even sleep, Lily knit her auburn brows and frowned. “Okay...so, when I close my eyes at night. And my brain shuts off. I see...pictures. In my mind. Of things that aren’t real. Well…” Teetering her head, Lily held up a clarifying palm. “Some are real. Or are based on things that really happened. But they can be anything. I could be flying, for instance. Or living in a castle. Whatever.”

Alan’s slightly smaller left eye twitched. Lily raised a curious auburn brow. “I...dream.”

“What?” Studying his carved countenance, Lily figured she must not have described the idea well enough. “Alan...you don’t sleep. How can you dream?”

“You said when your brain shuts off. You see pictures. I see pictures…” Extending a large hand, Alan pointed, his lengthy finger tracking across the floor and stopping with frightful accuracy without looking at the direction of his movement. “When you put me in the box.”

Lily had the unnerving sensation that if she were able to draw a line directly from Alan’s forefinger through her floorboards, he would be indicating exactly where his glass case stood, as if some kind of homing beacon were programmed within his broad body. She supposed he might indeed have one. “Oh, you...you do?”

Square chin ticking up and down, Alan retracted his arm. “Yes. But. Always the same. Always…” Alan stared in silence, pink lips parted for such an extended period of time Lily thought he might be lagging. “Real. Things.”

“Oh yeah?” Though Lily’s own nightly notions were about a passionate tryst with Alan, she ignored the slickness between her thighs for the sake of unraveling this newfound oddity. “What is it about?”

“In the...dream.” Alan began, azure eyes focused, but not on Lily, not on anything. “It’s always the same. I wake up. And there’s a woman. Staring at me…”

Scribbling on her clipboard, Dr. Elaine Haskell bent closer to AlanCorp Model 42D, scanning his manufactured visage with her thin lips downturned in appraisal. Though many of her colleagues on the development team disagreed with her choices regarding his appearance, Elaine smiled approvingly as she stood and admired Alan’s face. While in drafting, the others tried to convince her Alan’s features should be perfectly symmetrical. That this would be the ideal of beauty. Shot her quizzical glances when she suggested a wonky eye and a crooked grin. But Elaine overruled them all. And now, finger gracing The Alan’s left eyebrow, Elaine was glad she did.

As her hands danced down The Alan’s body, Elaine reminisced about every argument before the drawing board. Yes, they all agreed broad shoulders were a must. But did he have to have body hair? Camps formed. Some wanted a bear of a man, saying the hypermasculinity of a pelt covering his pale flesh would prove comforting. Others pleaded for a clean shaven pretty boy. In the end, they compromised, a fluffy field of dark hair through which Elaine now pranced.

And the majority of those assembled thought Alan should be a ripped, male-model, muscle-bound hunk. That surely would be the only body type appealing to buyers around the globe. Elaine disagreed, and when she expressed some of her own preferences, for a man with a touch of softness around the middle, perhaps love handles to squeeze and a belly on which to lay, others in the room shifted in their seats. Nodded. Grinned. Yeah. Better...

Everyone agreed on the hands. Big. Wide. Dexterous. Molding the palm to her own now, Elaine wondered if perhaps they went a bit overboard. If they were too large. Nah, she decided. Perfect.

Alan’s legs were a curiosity. In truth, Elaine didn’t have a strong opinion about men’s legs, and turned the issue over to the group, only to find out most of the others didn’t care, either. Until Matilda. Sweet, quiet, Matilda, who agreed with Elaine on everything and rarely spoke up, unless she needed to ask to leave to use the restroom, raised a tentative hand in the air. “I, um...I have some ideas? Maybe?”

‘Some’ ideas turned out to be a gargantuan understatement. Matilda brought a USB containing hundreds of pictures of men’s legs, all shapely and muscular, dancer’s legs, sorted into folders and coded based on desirability. Displaying these for the group, wide eyed and nodding feverishly, Matilda swallowed, splaying and clenching her hands, fetish projected on screen as she nervously tittered. “Yeah, so...so something like that. Maybe...yeah…”

And so, Alan rocked a particularly impressive set of stems, and Elaine smiled as she gave his thick thigh an appreciative squeeze.

All could agree on one thing: The Alan needed a huge cock. Problems arose when debates over what constituted ‘huge’ began. Some thought seven inches plenty. Elaine raised an eyebrow when Glen from R&D said anything under ten would be unacceptable. Folks flared up about girth preference. A fight broke out about circumcised vs. uncircumcised.

Finally, fed up with her quarrelling colleagues and facing the aggravating prospect of a focus group could she not solve the issue, Elaine locked herself in the lab for the weekend. When she emerged with a dozen prototypes for The Alan’s penis, she handed them out among the crew. Go ahead, she insisted. Take him home. Test him out. Let’s regroup tomorrow.

No complaints. In fact, three of her coworkers rolled in late. Well, stumbled in would be a more accurate description. They lauded not only Alan’s size, but the generous curve of his equipment as being quite pleasurable. And now, as Elaine etched a finger over the artfully carved head of his exquisite cock, she couldn’t help but beam with pride at the completed being lying on the table.

Light. Searing. White and bright and irritating. Too much. Too fast. Straps affixing to cold metal. But Alan didn’t even know the word ‘cold’ in that instant. Didn’t know what it meant to shy away from a chill, to seek the warmth of a fire, or perhaps the body of another. No, in that second, he only knew discomfort. Hurt. Pain.

And the tall, raven haired woman in the lab coat. Circling. Poking. Prodding.

Alan’s brain, if you could call the intricate network of wires housed within his skull such a thing, recorded data at an alarming speed, attempting to catch up with this new, frightening, and thrilling world. As the scientist studied him, Alan’s composed neurons recorded some of her touches as good. Whispered caresses over his sculpted jawline. Endearing pats of his pasty belly pudge.

Others were...not so enjoyable. Pinching at the skin of his arm to see how far it would stretch to test elasticity. Peeling back his eyelid, her face close, so close Alan could feel the scientist’s exhalations on his skin, his sapphire beacons studying her in wide, immobile silence while she traversed his bound body.

And some sensations Alan couldn’t quite categorize. A tug of the dark chest hair. Good? Bad? Perhaps both…

Then the woman’s hand graced the flaccid column between his legs and alarms sounded. Sliding the paper thin skin up and over the tip, she moved Alan’s cock from side to side, examining the range of motion.

Pausing to jot on her notepad, Elaine looked up and gasped. Hard. Alan was hard. Blinking, she scurried to her computer and scanned the data. No, she didn’t accidentally program the command and black out. Somehow, The Alan achieved an erection without prompting.

Cautious, Elaine approached, hand outstretched. As her fingers encased Alan’s massive cock, she thought for an instant, a second, a flicker of something, a shadow, passed over his frozen countenance.

Shrugging this off as the result of overwork and bad fluorescent lighting, Elaine peered apprehensively over her shoulder to ensure no one else occupied the lab before hunching down. In truth, ever since The Alan came off the line; strong, supple body drying in all his nude glory, Elaine’s mouth filled with saliva and one thought in particular occupied her mind: sucking Alan’s gorgeous cock.

Elaine supposed, even as the head of the department, were one of her subordinates to enter and discover her slurping furiously over Alan’s substantial piece of equipment, she may have some explaining to do. But as she attempted to bury him in her throat to the root, wondering how far she could go and holding her lips down as she relished the view of his tummy and pecs above, Elaine figured many on the team might understand.

Retracting with hollowed cheeks and tongue tucked into Alan’s frenulum, Elaine offered his balls an adoring squeeze.

“Uhh…”

Elaine screamed, scrambling back as The Alan’s damp cock dropped from her mouth. The sound, deep and unnatural roiling up from his solid chest, terrified her to no end, and, heart racing, she froze halfway across the pristine room and stared. Listening. Waiting.

Alan ‘warmed up’ as it were, and during this process, more and more of his faculties came online. After the tight heat of Elaine’s throat surrounded him, for instance, Alan realized he could blink. He did so again. Then perhaps two dozen times in rapid succession, a whirring motor of lashes over his cobalt gaze as recumbently watched the complicated network of pipes above. 

Then, Alan noticed he possessed limbs. So distracted was she with his penis, Elaine didn’t clock the flexing of Alan’s muscular legs. The splaying of his big hands. 

And Alan could swallow. His Adam’s apple bobbed. The cords of his neck stood out with effort and his dark brows gathered as Alan’s wiring tried to comprehend the spectacular sensations.

Alan wanted to thrust. Wanted more of this delectable whatever it might be going on below. But, secured tightly to the table, he couldn’t tilt his chin down to see Elaine, much less raise his hips to drive into her throat. He didn’t know how to express approval for this act. Didn’t even know what was happening, or her name.

And so Alan groaned. Or approximated a groan, at least, in his froggy, stilted voice. 

After nearly fainting in fear, Elaine took a few deep, slow breaths to compose herself before wobbling ankles carried her back to Alan’s side. The expression looking up from the table astounded her to no end. 

Prominent brows knit in anguish. Nostrils wide and pink lips quivering, Alan’s oceanic eyes coaxed Elaine to shores unknown and she almost cupped his crisp jaw in supplication before wariness stepped in.

Elaine checked her computer, analyzing the confusing data. An elevated pulse and body temperature, which Elaine supposed weren’t odd, considering, but the brain scan showed various areas of Alan’s consciousness alight in a configuration she couldn’t begin to fathom.

Peering once again at his woeful visage, Elaine gnawed the inside of her cheek in trepidation. They weren’t due to roll out this next feature of The Alan until several more tests were done to establish the baseline of the model, but she couldn’t resist. She needed to know the thoughts hidden behind his handsome face.

Clicking hastily, Elaine located the language software and a perfunctory dictionary. Though still in beta and aware the results may not be perfect, when she hit upload, Alan’s deep blue eyes rolling back in his head and lids fluttering, Elaine waited with breath held.

A flood of information flagellated Alan’s raw mind and he gasped, blinking as he cleared his throat and struggling to pull a single thought from the multifaceted web spidering within his expanding consciousness.

Alan’s eyes locked into Elaine, storm clouds within the blue, leather trapping him to the table screaming as his broad body ineffectually stretched in her direction. 

“Want.” Croaking and unblinking, Alan’s nostrils widened as he soaked in the image of the scientist, her heaving, ample chest, her plump lips parted in what he thought to be lust. “Touch my cock. Now. I want you. Please.”

Elaine shivered, clit throbbing. “Fuck…” Well aware she could be making a monumental error, Elaine’s libido got the better of her as she once again checked the area to make sure no one lurked around before hiking up her skirt.

“Okay, just…” Talking half to herself as she climbed atop the silver table and skipped her panties aside, Elaine shook her head. “Fast, Alan. Okay?”

“Al-an?” He tried to tilt his head, but the strap adhering his high forehead prevented such an action. 

Elaine paused with her fingers spreading the lips of her pussy and positioned above his considerable cock. “Oh...right. That’s your name. Alan.” She tapped his built chest timidly. “You are Alan.”

“Alan.” Repeating, again, Alan attempted to nod. “Who are you?”

“Elaine.” Though amused and fascinated by Alan’s burgeoning intelligence and queries, Elaine’s anxiety over being caught won out. “I’m Elaine. Okay, yeah, let’s...okay…”

Sinking down on his thick cock, Elaine folded forward and scrunched her face. “Oh fuck...okay...fuck…” Elaine braced herself on one of Alan’s vast shoulders, bouncing recklessly as she rubbed her clit. “ _Fuck!_ Oh fuck...okay...yeah...so good…”

Alan whirred, trying to compute the incoming flurry of feelings, of information. The jostling weight of Elaine above as she hectically rode. The eager clutch of her fingers over his solid chest. The flickering, intoxicating slickness of her pussy pulling on his tender cock.

But more than anything, Alan wanted to comprehend Elaine’s face. Wanted to know why she squinched her eyes together with such intensity. Why her full lips hung open. Why this cacophony of strange sounds poured out of her, moans, panting and desperate.

Searching his files, Alan soon put a name to the phenomenon: orgasm. And, as Elaine’s pussy clutched, her body shuddering uncontrollably as she slammed herself down and cried, “ _Oh fuck! Alan, yes! Yes! Fuck!”_ Alan felt a strange sense of...purpose. Though he couldn’t attach a word to this quite yet. Merely a blossoming bubble of warmth within his mechanical heart. And Alan wanted nothing more than to race after his vocation.

“More.” A note of urgency crept into Alan’s unusual voice as he wriggled as best be could beneath Elaine. “More…”

Elaine told herself she needed to stop. Needed to exercise restraint, as someone might burst through the door and see her perched atop The Alan at any second. But his perfectly modeled cock filling her to the brim, not to mention the glow of pride that she created the masterpiece herself, convinced Elaine to rock forward. “Okay Alan…” 

Lengthy fingers stretch, stretch, stretched, Alan managing to graze Elaine’s knee with a one tip. This singular, tiny point of contact brought him a peace, a joy. And though contrary to his programming, Alan closed his eyes. Surrendering to the sensations.

Head tossed back and awash in ecstasy, Elaine’s convulsions and shrieks were such that she didn’t hear Alan until the noise issuing from him thundered to a terrifying screech.

“Oh shit!” Though unable to stop the quakes ripping through her lust-laden form, Elaine ceased her pistoning as Alan’s sharp jaw expanded, snake-like, eyes white in his skull and tall frame tense. 

“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck…” Elaine hopped off unceremoniously, convinced she damaged a multimillion dollar piece of equipment in her ardor, quickly yanking her clothing back into place and scrambling to the computer. 

One high, pure note. Toes pointed. Ten fingers apart, Alan shook and fell still. 

Numbers on the screen falling to baseline, Elaine rushed back to Alan, his face returning to his normal, poised beauty, although his left eye continued to twitch in a manner she found concerning. Alan’s cock softened, and though no ejaculate escaped him (they debated including this feature and decided only to do so as an optional upgrade for customers upon request, as the internal plumbing involved proved rather tedious) Elaine concluded that somehow, bafflingly, Alan just came.

How? Yes, Alan possessed all the necessary nerve endings to be stimulated appropriately. And yes, he had all the correct parts in all the right places. But obviously they chose not to allow his circuitry to achieve orgasm without the partner’s express permission. After all, who would want a sex robot who came too early?

And so this unprecedented reaction startled Elaine as she looked down at Alan’s relaxing features. “Alan…” Elaine leaned in hesitantly, swallowing as she placed a hand near his expansive shoulder. “Are you...alright?”

Alan stared back at her for a full two minutes. Later, Elaine wondered what went on in his head during this extended silence. In truth, she probably wouldn’t have understood even if Alan took a lifetime to try and explain. 

Though a mere 120 seconds, he dissected the word ‘alright’ in hundreds, perhaps thousands of different ways, attempting to discern her meaning. In the end, Alan came to the conclusion that the scientist must be concerned for his well being, though he couldn’t imagine why since he felt amazing, especially compared to his initial discomfort upon waking.

“Yes.” Alan intoned softly with a single blink. “I am...alright.”

“Okay…” Apprehensive, Elaine combed her fingers through his sandy brown hair, and when Alan’s supple lips broke into a smile, she beamed. His joy looked exactly as she imagined. Left eye slivering, grin goofy and hitched to expose his rounded teeth. A few beloved wrinkles, uneven and stunning in their glee.

Elaine didn’t merely set out to make a face to lust after, but one to love. And as she caressed his sturdy jaw, sweeping down to claim a mouth which never knew the touch of another, which before today never knew the world, and indeed would never know what it meant to draw breath, though no blood pumped through Alan’s veins, Elaine’s heart beat for him and him alone.

Steps in the hall. Elaine hissed in a breath, springing up and dashing to the computer. “Elaine?” Alan arched an expressive brow before she quickly powered him down, the twinkle in his evening sky eyes dying out before the door opened to admit three of the other members of her team.

Over the next few weeks, as Alan found himself repeatedly trotted out and put through various tests, whether jogging on a treadmill to measure his endurance or hoisting hundreds of pounds aloft to gauge his strength, for a time he thought Elaine might be two different people.

In front of the other researchers, she maintained her clinical composure, always addressing him formally as The Alan or ‘the model,’ rarely making eye contact as she went about her business and directed the rest in their tasks. But as soon as the doors closed and they were alone, Elaine utilized every spare moment to indulge in all of Alan’s many skills. 

Whether instructing him to pound her mercilessly into the wall until the shelves shook and her shrieks echoed off the glass, or straddling his sturdy jaw until she thought she might pass out from the depth of her rapture, Elaine couldn’t get enough of Alan’s meticulous, talented touch. 

Sometimes, lab locked and hour late, Elaine would burn AlanCorp time simply kissing Alan, humming against his uneven lips as his sizable hands roamed, vaguely musing about the difficulty involved in sneaking him out to her car to spend the weekend at home.

Elaine worried endlessly about losing respect, or even her position because of her inability to curb her trysts with Alan. But then one afternoon she spotted a smear of lipstick behind his joined ear in a shade she never wore. Another morning, teeth marks in his tiny asscheek which she certainly did not remember leaving. And so, though an irrational jealousy burbled within at the idea of her coworkers sharing the wealth, Elaine let go of her self consciousness and relaxed into sordid bliss.

After a marathon session which left her legs jellied and her mind pleasantly clear, Elaine powered Alan down and reluctantly admitted she needed to get some real work done for a change. Typing away in the adjacent office, earphones in and music blaring, Elaine narrowed her eyes at the screen, backspacing a few times when she made a typo.

Crunch of metal. Resounding slam into the opposite wall. Elaine whipped around to see Alan, nude and standing alongside the two inch steel door, twisted and massacred by his huge hands as though it were nothing more than tissue paper. “Elaine…”

Tearing the headphones out, Elaine pushed free of her wheeled chair. “Alan...what...what are you doing?” Mind spinning, she thought back. Yes. Yes, she definitely turned him off before she started working on this report. She remembered double checking. How did Alan power up on his own? How did he get free? How…

“I want you.” For every step his tall frame advanced, Elaine shrunk away. Until her back hit the wall. Nowhere else to go. No escape. “I want...Elaine.”

“Alan…” Voice tremulous, Elaine’s hands stuttered over the gray wall and she swallowed heavily. “You...you need to go back. I’m working. We can’t be together right now, okay?”

Alan’s head tilted, eyes unblinking as he surveyed her with reptilian slowness. “But…” Nostrils expanding, Alan’s dark blue eyes scanned Elaine from head to toe and she froze. “Your heart rate is accelerated. Your body temperature is elevated. You are...aroused.”

Closer. Alan came closer and Elaine shook her head, heels rattling over the tile. “That’s...that’s not...it’s different, Alan. You don’t understand.”

A big hand extended in her direction and Elaine forgot to breathe. “But I want to make you feel good.”

Brain scurrying, Elaine didn’t want to, but she could think of no other options. She grasped at her only hope: Alan’s emergency kill code, thankful she could remember the words in her distress. “Decimeter! Zanzibar! Juniper! Quotient! Pantomime! Lackadaisical!”

As his large fingers fisted in her blouse, Alan’s face slackened and he collapsed to the floor like a string-cut marionette. Clutching her chest and shaking, Elaine retrieved a dolly to haul Alan back into the staging area, dedicating the rest of her evening to crafting a monumental, glass box for his enclosure and adding one small, unexplained instruction to The Alan’s manual without informing the team: Power down and return The Alan to its case after use. Do not fall asleep in front of The Alan.

***

Alan’s monotone voice recited the tale with little or no emotion, as if he were reading from his own extensive manual and not recounting a memory which, though he didn’t possess the words or recognize the ugly sensations in his built chest, pained him deeply. Pouring the events of his past over Lily’s sex mussed sheets, she gaped in horror when he finally fell silent.

“Alan…” Lily stammered, suddenly wishing she weren’t naked and inches away from his hunched figure. “That’s...that really happened? At the...where you were made?”

Alan nodded solemnly. “After that, the scientist wouldn’t touch me anymore. She…” Pausing, a faraway expression overtook Alan, tempting Lily to place a consoling arm around his broad shoulders. “She wouldn’t look at me. I received new programming. Many lessons in the nuances of consent.” Sighing, Alan hung his square chin. “But I tried apologizing to her, and still, she wouldn’t speak with me again. Ever.”

Unraveling a bit at Alan’s clarification, Lily nodded. “I’m sorry, that’s...that sounds hard.” Then, reflecting on his story, Lily noticed something strange. “Alan? Why do you call her ‘the scientist’? Didn’t she ever tell you her name? It sounded like you two were ...together. A lot.”

Lips tight, Alan shifted uncomfortably, muscle in his sharp jaw flickering with grief. “I can’t.”

“Can’t what?” Lily squeezed his carved forearm.

When Alan’s deep blue eyes lifted, were he capable, they would’ve been glassy. “Say it.” Alan’s unique voice choked out even more tormented than usual. “I don’t know what she did. But I try and…” Gesturing to his pale throat, the corner of Alan’s wide mouth ticked up in defeat. “Nothing. It won’t come out anymore.”

“Oh…” Lips pursed in consideration, Lily blinked. “Could you write it, maybe?”

“Write?” 

Alan never wrote anything in his life, so when Lily retrieved a pen and notepad from her dresser, he looked at the items as though they were radioactive. “Yeah.” His large hand accepted the utensil awkwardly and she perched the paper on his thick thigh. “Do you think you can write her name down? Maybe?”

Alan stared at the page. In truth, his brain would barely allow him to envision the name ‘Elaine.’ He couldn’t hear the sounds in his mind, such was the extent of the block enforced by Elaine to prevent Alan calling out to her again and again as she strode by, head down and emotions ignored, denying that a being which came so close to hurting her irreparably could be the same ‘man’ she once loved.

Eyes closed, Alan thought about Elaine’s face. How she would smile while he remained inside of her, how her gaze would dart over his features, soaking in every aspect whenever they were united. How, even for the span of a second, a touch, Elaine made him feel real.

Alan looked down at the notepad. In freakishly tidy block letters stood the name E-L-A-I-N-E.

Picking up the page, Lily read. “Elaine,” and a strangled sound, like that of an animal being kicked escaped Alan as he hunched over on the side of the bed.

“Yes.” Still, even hearing the two syllables emerge from Lily’s mouth, Alan’s mind couldn’t form them, his lips refused to repeat them, and so he settled. “Her.”

Lily scooted closer on the mattress, looping an arm around Alan, glad when he tucked his head into her chest without hesitation. “Alan...were you in love with her?”

Alan quietly slipped his firm arms around Lily, hugging her plush middle. Though Alan didn’t breathe, he still possessed olfactory capabilities (partially to detect smoke and carbon monoxide in case of emergency) and, elegant nose in the hollow of Lily’s throat, he reveled in this concentrated locale of her delectable scent.

“I am.” Voice softer, more human than Lily ever heard before, Alan nodded against her skin, embracing her tightly. “In love with her. I’m…” Ten points of pressure dug into Lily’s back. “Sorry. I will stop. I’m in love with you, now. She’s gone.”

“Oh Alan…” Lily took his square chin and met Alan’s aggrieved blue gaze. “You don’t have to stop loving Elaine.” He flinched when she said the name. “You can love more than one person. That’s okay. Your…” Halting, Lily’s eyes lingered on Alan’s solid chest and she swallowed. “Your heart is big enough for that.”

Alan smiled, wonky and relieved before he brushed a strand of scarlet from her face. “Okay. Lily.”

Lily interlaced their fingers, quiet as she waded into the hopeful waters of Alan’s eyes. Perhaps admitting the truth would be wrong. To her friends, to society, to Stephen’s memory. But, as she sat there with Alan, morning sun dappling the sheets and serenity coating her shattered soul, Lily couldn’t lie. Not to herself, and not to Alan. “I love you, too.”

As Alan’s powerful arms gathered her near, Lily allowed herself to melt into his grasp. All thoughts of the judgement of the world over her relationship fled her mind as his sizable hands electrified her skin. 

Though Lily lost count of how many times they had sex long ago, as Alan entered her, broad frame weighing her down into the mattress as their lips fused together with an alleviated sigh, for the first time she thought they were making love.

The next day, as Lily readied for work, she fretted, pulling on her pantsuit and avoiding Alan’s prone form in the bedroom. “Um...Alan?” Finally popping around the corner, Lily chewed her lip. “I...have to go to work now, so…”

“Alright.” Alan sat up. For a moment they looked at one another in buzzing silence before Alan read the lines of concern decorating her face and nodded in resignation. “I need to go back in the box.”

It wasn’t a question, and yet his defeated tone broke Lily’s heart. “Yeah, I...I’m sorry.” Averting her eyes, Lily hitched her bag up higher on her shoulder. “I’ll...I’ll try to come home early, so…”

“Alright.” Standing, Alan pulled on his clothes, following Lily quietly down the stairs in his khakis and blue sweater. 

“Will you…” Alan paused with one foot inside of his dwelling, muscle in his sharp jaw jumping. “Leave me on? Please?”

Clutching the frame, Lily blinked. “Are you sure? Alan...I’ll be gone for hours. It...you’ll just have to stand here, so…”

Azure eyes shifting, Alan gave a tiny nod before softly replying. “I know. Please…”

“Okay.” Before closing the panel behind him, Lily touched a hand to Alan’s wide back and whispered, “I’m sorry…”

“I know.” Alan didn’t turn. 

Lily locked him in, feeling like a jailor as she shuffled to the front door with her head down. “I’ll be home as fast as I can.” Muttering, Lily skipped out quickly, never seeing the hurt adorning Alan’s pristine features.

Many might imagine being forced to remain within the cramped confines of a glass box would be torturous. But, in fairness, Alan’s joints experienced no pain from standing in the same position for hours on end. No claustrophobia plagued Alan, and he didn’t experience a lack of oxygen, since he didn’t need to breathe. And it couldn’t be said that Alan might ever grow bored. 

But Alan could think, and think he did. Never since his creation did he have a block of free time to do so. In fact, whenever Alan found himself conscious in the past, 90% of the time he was having sex. So the opportunity to be still and contemplate proved somewhat luxurious.

Alan contemplated Lily. And the scientist, his mind firmly refusing to call her Elaine. Mulling over this heady concept of ‘love’ posed by Lily, Alan started to do something novel: worry.

Before that very moment, Alan’s brain, with its spectacular network of wires and drives, never knew the plague of anxiety. But, Alan’s fingers began to rattle over his thick thighs. He shifted his weight from one large foot to the other, blue eyes darting over Lily’s quaint possessions from his confined perspective of the living room.

Could Alan love? Concern flooded him that possibly, no, this capability didn’t exist within his hardware. Lily said, afterall, he couldn’t die. Alan remembered his first day upon waking in Lily’s home. Seeing her befuddled face as he performed his preprogrammed dance routine. Upon reflection, Alan spotted exactly three new gray hairs in Lily’s crimson mane since then. She gained 2.4 pounds, which pleased Alan, as before Lily seemed disinterested in existence to the point of neglecting her own sustenance.

But Alan grew nervous. What would happen when Lily became too old to enjoy his services anymore? Did he have anything to offer besides endless power fucking? 

Searching his internal database, Alan sifted through the boundless myriad of pornographic videos uploaded with the intent of imbibing him with every possible technique and variation for the sexual arts.

Though many of these proved useless for his purposes, cheesy scenarios between two or more individuals with hardly a shred of plot or dialogue, Alan happened upon a handful of offerings which enlightened. 

Couples meeting. Falling in love. First times. Marital bliss. Sensuous and soft and seductive. Within these images, Alan gleaned deeper meanings. Things he might say. Might do. Perhaps he could be more to Lily, with practice, with time. Perhaps…

Lily’s thoughts as she went about her day were not quite so productive. Fretting as she attempted to wrangle her office work, Lily couldn’t stop panicking about Alan. The guilt over leaving him alone. The shame that she let herself fall for a sex robot. And a niggling fear that, somehow, he might escape before she returned.

Leaving half her tasks uncompleted and making a dismal excuse to her supervisor that she didn’t feel well, Lily raced home, knuckles white on the wheel until she jogged inside. 

“Oh…” Lily breathed a sigh of relief as she burst through the door, Alan perched exactly where she left him, corner of his wide mouth lifting at her appearance. “Hey…”

“Hello.” Voice muffled by the glass, Alan watched as Lily circled around behind the box, rapidly unlocking the panel and setting him free. “How was your d--”

But before he could finish, Lily draped her arms around his vast shoulders, tucking his face down into the crook of her neck, head shaking. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” Lily murmured into his pale skin, petting over Alan’s rusty locks. “I...are you okay?”

Alan blinked. No one asked him that since the scientist. Since his first day in this alarming, bewildering world. “Yes…” Toes inching past the glass walls, Alan’s strong arms encircled Lily’s soft middle, squeezing tight. “I. Missed you. Lily…”

Emerald eyes stinging and throat tight, in that second Lily decided she would no longer bear the weight of perceived judgement from others over her feelings for Alan. Yes, Alan came from a factory. His bits and pieces hewn together by human hands. But Alan’s touch, his words, his love, all of these were real. And Lily refused to apologize for happiness, even if the world might struggle to understand.


	2. 2

As the calendar turned, Lily feathered quite the comfortable nest for herself and Alan. She purchased several outfits she thought would look debonair on him, though she dare not risk taking him out shopping, and this resulted in a few trips to return items which didn’t fit. Though mealtimes never stopped being slightly awkward with Alan seated beside her and unable to consume food, Lily enjoyed their conversations immensely. Many of them surrounded philosophical matters with which Alan wrestled. What is consciousness? How do you know if you’re alive, or if you’re merely existing in the mind of someone else? How did humans, and the universe, come to be? Did Lily believe people possessed souls? And if so, somewhere in his synthetic housing, did Alan have one as well?

They tackled these and many other topics together between their numerous and varied sexual exploits. During one of her days off, after Lily finished unloading the dishwasher to discover Alan on the couch reading Stephen Hawking’s ‘The Universe In a Nutshell’ (after picking up one of Lily’s novels, Alan became voracious in his demand for knowledge, asking Lily to go to the library on his behalf and flipping through tomes with dizzying speed) she nestled on the adjacent cushion with hands folded. “Alan?”

“Yes?” No need to mark his spot, Alan lowered the book and flashed a crooked grin.

“I’ve been wondering…” Green gaze averted, Lily twisted her fingers. “Are there things you...don’t like? Sexually? Things which you wouldn’t be into trying? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Without hesitation, Alan shook his head. “No. If it’s with you, I want to do it.”

Lily squeezed her inner thighs at the thrill of a partner who truly possessed no limits, physical or mental, face warming at the possibilities. “Alright, um...that’s great. So there’s...there’s a few things I want to try, then. I have to do some shopping. Maybe a little research. I never looked into it properly. Stephen never wanted--”

Stopping short, Lily’s face fell and she shifted uncomfortably, clearing her throat. Alan leaned in, head tilted. “Stephen?”

“Yeah, um…” Lily cast her eyes away, teeth clenched. “My husband. Yeah…”

Tensing, Alan looked to Lily’s bare left hand, then over his expansive shoulder, as if an invisible man lurked around her house for the past year and somehow escaped his notice. “Your husband?”

“I’m…” Trapping air in her lungs, Lily commanded her voice to steady and became irritated when it refused to obey. “A widow. He...passed away. A couple of years ago.”

“Oh…” Alan sagged into the couch and slid his hand toward Lily. As someone who not only never experienced grief, but couldn’t know the threat of mortality, he didn’t have the slightest idea what to say to bring a smile back to Lily’s beautiful face. “I’m. Sorry.”

Lily shook her head. She didn’t want to think about Stephen. Didn’t want to think about all those empty, gray days before Alan, slogging from room to room, home to work, wishing each night she could go to sleep forever, join her beloved in that silent after, if that meant she would no longer hurt.

“It’s...I’m fine.” Inhaling sharply, Lily nodded, to herself more than Alan as she rapidly blinked. “He…” Lily couldn’t explain to Alan about Stephen. About that last year. Stephen withdrawing into the cocoon of his depression. Each time Lily asked, the same answer. ‘I’m fine. Don’t worry.’ Refusing to go to therapy. Silence. Buzzing with a thousand unspoken words, a million pains. Until the cruel Monday Lily strolled in from work to an empty house, an empty life.

She couldn’t look into Alan’s eyes, exactly the same shade of blue with their flecks of haunted gray which never knew Stephen’s sorrow, and tell him the last time she shared his gaze, he peered up at her from a metal table, unseeing and unfeeling, transferring every drop of his eons of woe to her shattered spirit.

“He’s gone.” Faraway and voice hollow, Lily sighed. “It’s...I’m fine. Don’t worry.” Lily didn’t realize she repeated Stephen’s false chant of reassurance as she hugged herself on the couch.

Alan squeezed Lily’s hand. Though limited in his experience with human interaction, Alan learned enough to know that sometimes all another person needed was a quiet presence beside them in the storm.

“I…” Lustful notions fading, Lily cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. I think I’m going to go lay down. I’m just...tired.”

Nodding silently, Alan stood, one powerful arm scooping beneath Lily’s knees, the other behind her back. Draped against his solid chest, Alan carried Lily upstairs, and Lily let him, body fatigued with the weight of memory. 

Alan undressed Lily, without heat and without haste, placing her under the covers before turning off the light and disrobing. As Alan’s warmth painted a swath of comfort along her back, his embrace speaking to Lily of opportunities lost, of ones to come, dew decorated her lashes and she snuggled closer, squeezing his firm forearm.

“Thank you…” A wavering whisper in the dark.

A brush of supple lips to the nape of her neck and a voice that, though he may never sound completely natural, dripped with the love and concern Lily needed to the best of Alan’s abilities. “You’re welcome. Lily. Rest now…”

***

Among all the clothing purchased for him by Lily, with time Alan developed his own sense of style. And Lily found it endlessly amusing that given his factory-issue blue sweater, Alan preferred whenever possible to continue along the same lines, cozy items and plush fabrics donning his tall frame.

Alan smiled as he descended the stairs in gray sweatpants and a blue hoodie which, despite the simplicity of the piece, Lily adored for how the fabric brought out his eyes. Sidling up behind Lily in the kitchen as she stood over a searing pan of pork chops, Alan learned to make his presence known before touching, and let an arm fall into the corner of her vision on the counter. 

“Hello. How are you doing?”

Flipping the meat with a sizzle, Lily cupped Alan’s sharp jaw and smiled as they shared a brief kiss. “I’m good, almost done. How are you?”

Alan didn’t think he would ever get over the strangeness of someone actually wanting to know the answer to that question. And even if he responded in the same way most days, he always paused to consider. “I’m well. Thank you, Lily. Would you like help?”

“Oh no, thanks. I think I got it. I just have to--”

Ring of the doorbell. Both looked to the entrance as if they were squatters anxiously waiting to be ousted by the police, chops nearly burning before the buzz issued again and Lily blinked.

“Oh, I...I’ll get it…” Turning off the stove, she swallowed hard as she glanced at Alan.

“Lily…” Alan touched her arm before she passed. “Are you expecting anyone? Should I hide?”

Lily took in his concerned expression, and though she knew Alan likely felt no shame at this statement, that he would contentedly sit upstairs in quiet no matter who waited outside, guilt flooded her at the thought that she couldn’t be proud of someone (Lily refused to categorize Alan as ‘something’ anymore) who brought her such joy. 

“No.” Smile slightly forced, Lily heard an impatient knock and edged closer to the living room. “Thank you, though. It...it’ll be okay. Just hang on.”

Twisting the knob, Lily revealed the beaming, albeit slightly aggravated, face of her best friend, Teresa. “Hey!” As per usual, Teresa walked in without being invited and pulled Lily into a bear hug. Usually she loved this level of familiarity and Teresa’s unabashed expressions of affection. But with Alan feet away, Lily tensed beneath Teresa’s arms. “Girl, how are you? Sorry to just drop by, but you’ve been dodging me for weeks now and I...got...worried.”

Teresa spotted the tall, handsome man standing awkwardly still in the living room and blinked, hands falling to her sides. “Oh...sorry.” Looking from Alan to Lily and back again, Teresa arched a manicured brow, her eyes twinkling in amusement. “I didn’t realize you had company. There weren’t any other cars out front, so…”

Brain scrambling, Lily smiled and nodded altogether too quickly. “Oh yeah, this is...Teresa, this is Alan. My-my boyfriend. Alan?” Lily ushered him forward and Alan’s shapely legs stammered after half a step, searching her face for clues as to how he should behave. “This is my best friend, Teresa.”

“Hey, nice to meet you.” When Teresa extended a hand, Alan stared at her fingers as though they might bite him before enveloping them with a wide palm.

“Hello. Teresa. Nice to meet you, too.”

Teresa pulled her head back, obviously thrown by Alan’s weird voice as he pumped her arm a tad firmly for her taste before releasing. “Yeah...sorry. I didn’t realize you were seeing anyone…” Lily flinched at Teresa’s hurt expression as she rocked back on her heels, the three uncomfortably situated in the entryway. “I guess that explains why you’ve been MIA.”

“Oh yeah, sorry, I…” Glancing back at Alan, Lily swallowed and let her gaze fall. “I meant to mention it. It’s just...yeah. Sorry. But, um…” Smoothing over her blouse, Lily shook her head in an effort to clear her mind. It didn’t work. “Do...I’m just finishing dinner? Would you like to join us? If you’re hungry?”

“Always.” Teresa patted Lily’s shoulder before removing her shoes. “Thanks, Lil.”

“Okay...let’s...yeah. Right. I’ll just get an extra plate.” 

As Lily led the way to the kitchen, she heard Teresa’s ebullient voice addressing Alan. “So, how did you two meet?”

Alan froze. An unnatural stillness. The kind which no real living organism could accomplish in the totality of his immobility. The exception being the wide, frightened blue orbs of his eyes which skidded to Lily for help.

“Oh, um…” Lily paused with a hand on the cupboard. “Through work. He...Alan was a client. Came in a while ago and we just hit it off.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” Plopping into one of the empty chairs, a faint unease permeated Teresa about Alan. She scanned Lily, looking for bruises, signs of unhealthy deference. But if anything, Alan seemed subservient as he lightly touched Lily’s lower back, asking if he should get them something to drink.

“Sure, I’ll take a beer, if you have one.” Teresa piped up. When Alan retrieved the bottle 

from the fridge, opening it by hand and passing it to Teresa with a broad smile, she frowned. She could’ve sworn this brand wasn’t a twist off. “Thank you…”

Nervously dishing up two plates from the singular serving she cooked for herself, Lily cleared her throat and tried to keep the conversation going, hoping if she got Teresa talking about herself that might draw attention away from Alan. “So, how’s painting going? I think last time we talked you were going to show at that new gallery downtown, right?”

“Oh yeah, the show opened last week. I was really hoping you could come…” Again, the sting of her best friend’s disappointment hit Lily like a wave and she made a mental note to stop neglecting the other aspects of her life for Alan’s sake. “But it’s going well. A couple of bigger sales so far, but I’m hoping--” 

Teresa stopped with a forkful of mashed potatoes halfway to her mouth and furrowed her brows at the empty space before Alan on the table. “Oh...you’re not hungry?”

Again, Alan’s cobalt gaze pleaded with Lily for assistance. “Oh yeah, well…” Lily prodded a brussel sprout, eyes averted. “Alan had a late lunch, so…”

“Ah okay.” Apparently he wasn’t thirsty either, but Teresa wanted to get a better idea of this mysterious man in her friend’s life. “So Alan, Lily said you were a client? Your business came to her place to farm out customer service calls then, right? What kind of work do you do?”

Pink lips open in a perfect ‘O’ of bewilderment, Alan gripped the underside of the table with such intensity Lily heard a weak splintering sound. “Yup.” Lily hurriedly jumped in, nodding. “Alan runs a...an electronics store. Online. So we...we got them all set up. And after his meeting with Mr. Simmons, we ran into each other in the hall and he asked me out for coffee.” Surprised by her own ability to spin bullshit with speed, Lily shoved a bite of porkchop into her mouth and hoped this might afford her another minute to think.

Teresa offered an incredulous laugh. “Jeez, not a big talker, are you Alan?”

Nostrils flaring, Alan’s dark blue eyes darted desperately. “No. Sorry.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean it as a criticism, really,” Tossing up a hand, Teresa carved off another piece of meat. “Most men love to hear the sound of their own voice. Nothing wrong with being the strong, silent type.”

Alan nodded and quiet descended over the table, noises of chewing almost obnoxious in their demand to be outdone. Thankfully Teresa didn’t notice that along with no rise and fall of Alan’s solid chest, no breathing sounds left his clammed up countenance, either. 

“So…” Teresa ate, a mounting suspicion blossoming. “Alan. How long have you two been together?”

When Alan looked to Lily once more, Teresa bristled internally, but said nothing. “Oh, um...a couple of months. Sorry. Like I said, I wanted to tell you. It’s just...we’re still kind of figuring it out. And it’s...tricky. Getting back out there and all.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Bobbing her head slowly, Teresa wound up again for a pitch. “Alan, do you live near here? I’ve never seen you around town, and you know the community is pretty tiny.”

Without fail, Lily jumped in. “Yeah he, he lives pretty close by. Just walked over earlier. That’s why there’s no car out front. But he...moved to Preston not long before we got together, so...yeah. You might not have bumped into each other yet.”

“But things are going well with you two?” Teresa prodded, narrowing her eyes at Alan. The man didn’t seem to blink as often as he should and this made her skin crawl. “Everything’s good?”

Lily swallowed, setting her fork down. Halfway through the meal and she didn’t think she could endure this constant barrage of questioning any longer. “Um...Teresa? There’s...there’s something I should tell you. Alan?” Squeezing his hand, Lily ticked her head back toward the living room. “Could you give us a minute? Please?”

“Of course.” Alan combed back Lily’s auburn tresses as he stood, wishing he could do something to erase the deep line of worry from her forehead as he exited the kitchen.

“Alright, um…” Lily leaned in, and Teresa’s concern heightened as she watched her best friend wring her hands, eyes downcast. “So...yeah. That’s...everything I said. It’s not true. Alan…” Inhaling sharply, Lily thought perhaps if she spoke quickly, it wouldn’t sound so strange. “So you know Troy, right? My...my friend from back home?”

“Oh, that dude who got rich making that app or whatever?”

“Yeah.” Lily nodded, forgetting to exhale. “So, he...he got me this present. A...a robot. I guess. No, I think android is more appropriate… Anyway, that’s…” Mouth working opened and closed in silence, Lily squeezed her eyes shut. “That’s...Alan. He’s...yeah. I...I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say…”

Gawking, Teresa splayed her fingers on the table. “No  _ way!”  _ Teresa covered her mouth and left her chair, peeking around the corner into the living room in an effort to catch a glimpse of Alan before returning to Lily’s side and lowering her voice. “No fucking way! That’s...he’s not real? But he looks so...Lily, that’s amazing! Wait so…” Bending forward, a mischievous smile spread over Teresa’s lips. “Does he fuck? Because...damn. I want one. What the hell? How did you--”

“Just…” Lily held up a palm. Teresa’s assertion denying Alan’s ‘reality’ hurt. “Yes, okay? And I talked to Troy about it, but he wouldn’t tell me the price. And AlanCorp will only give estimates to serious buyers, so I couldn’t find out from them, either. But just…” Squirming a little, Lily nodded. “Yeah, he...he makes me happy, so…”

Arching a disbelieving brow, Teresa examined Lily’s face. “Wait, Lil...are you...you didn’t like…” Teresa tried to catch her eye but Lily avoided her deftly. “Fall in love with this thing, did you?”

“He’s not a thing!” Lily snapped, face tight and fingers fisting. “He...Alan is good to me. He takes care of me and we…” Taking a breath of courage, Lily did her best to return Teresa’s shaming gaze. “We love each other. He’s been here for over a year and it’s been great. I really needed someone after Stephen died, and--”

“Wait a second…” Unconsciously touching her own thigh, Teresa shook her head, hand aloft. “Over a year? Does that mean...was he here when I had my car accident and you didn’t show?”

A leaden guilt coated Lily’s stomach and she swallowed heavily. “Yeah. I...I had my phone off. Teresa, I’m so sorry…”

Scoffing, Teresa stood. “You know what? I feel like that’s all I hear from you anymore.” Teresa scooped up her purse and headed toward the living room, Lily following. “I’m sorry, Teresa, I can’t hang out tonight. Sorry I never returned your call, I was busy. Sorry, sorry,  _ sorry!” _ Throwing up her arms furiously, Teresa whipped around as she opened the door. “But if you were really fucking sorry, Lil, you would change. You wouldn’t be ditching me and everyone else for…” Gesturing in Alan’s direction, Teresa’s lip curled in disgust. “That.”

Hovering in the purgatory between sadness and rage, Lily stepped forward ineffectually. “Teresa, I...I’m sorry about not being there for you. During your accident and lately. But...I needed Alan. He helps me. I’m getting better. Please, let’s just...can we talk about this? Maybe see each other for lunch or something?”

“Sorry.” Teresa imbued the word with dripping vitriol as she crossed the threshold. “I think I’m going to be busy for a while. Enjoy your sexbot, Lil.”

Slamming the door behind her, Lily didn’t know what to feel as she listened to Teresa’s car pulling away. She thought perhaps if she told the truth, with over two decades of friendship, Teresa might understand her relationship with Alan, might understand how meaningful this new chapter in her life could be.

But she slowly lurched to the couch, eyes hot and throat restricted before Alan joined her on the next cushion. “Lily…” Tucking an errant strand of red behind her ear, Alan studied Lily’s features, distorting with emotional pain and lowered his voice, scooting closer. “Are you okay?”  
“No…” Lily rested against his bult chest, sniffing as the first tears breached. “I...she’s my best friend. I don’t want her to be disappointed in me. And I want her to like...you.”

Alan nodded, big hand massaging over Lily’s arm as he kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry. Maybe. With time. She will understand.”

“Maybe.” Nestling into Alan’s soft middle, Lily hoped Teresa, or anyone would be able to accept their love. “Maybe…”

***

After a cooling off period, Lily reconnected with Teresa and the two got together, both apologizing before Teresa’s curiosity over Alan’s capabilities led to a number of not-so-subtle questions. Lily skirted most of these effectively, and though Teresa’s disappointment in her lack of candor was obvious, she simply couldn’t bring herself to discuss the breadth of her love life with Alan.

Not that she was ashamed, per se. But Lily thought, like any other couple, her and Alan’s privacy should be respected. And as they continued to expand their horizons, she also figured there were a few practices even her best friend might not understand.

For instance, one night after Alan assisted her in cleaning the kitchen following dinner, Lily posed a query. “Alan, would you be willing to...slap me? Maybe?”

“Now?” Alan tilted his head quizzically. “Why?”

“Oh no,” Lily chuckled and patted his mountainous shoulder as they made their way to the couch. “I mean, when we’re having sex. Or leading up to it. I don’t want you to just slap me any old time.”

“Oh right.” A goofy grin floated to Alan’s mouth and he nodded as they sat down. “Of course, if you really want me to.”

Twisting to face him, Lily bobbed her head. “I do.”

“Alright well…” Alan looked at his own large hand for perhaps thirty seconds before speaking and Lily wondered if she bumped up against his first hard line. “I think we should do some tests. Otherwise, I fear I could cause you severe injury. Lily.”

Frowning in appraisal, Lily nodded. “Okay, that makes sense. What are you thinking?”

“You wish for me to slap you in the face, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. In that case,” Flexing his fingers, Alan considered. “I think we should test out a low velocity and strength somewhere else first. Somewhere less fragile.”

Lily got to her feet. “Oh good idea. Do you want to try spanking me? I think that’s probably a safe start, right?”

“Yes.” 

Lily thought she heard an underlying note of excitement in Alan’s froggy tone. To her surprise, over the last few months since Alan ‘woke up’ as she liked to think of it, Alan expressed preferences for certain sexual acts. Though there was nothing he wouldn’t do, Lily learned there were activities which truly did turn him on more than others, and this aspect of his expanding personhood titillated her to no end.

Bracing her palms on the back of the couch, Lily hiked up her skirt. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Alright.” Internally calibrating, Alan stared hard at Lily’s bent figure, panties on display. Alan’s cock twitched. Lately he learned a plethora of new information about his sexuality. When Lily asked if he could be more dominant, talk more during their interactions, originally Alan struggled, unsure how to fulfill this request to the appropriate degree. 

But soon he discovered the demands, the taunting, the teasing, though always delivered in his restricted monotone (Lily personally thought this cold edge made everything hotter) came quite easily. Alan even found himself so worked up by the idea of Lily submitting, that he tried masturbating for the first time, now that she allowed him to roam free while she went to work. Though somewhat pleasurable, Alan couldn’t get past the awareness of his hand doing the job of playing with his cock. When he discussed this later with Lily and she explained how she would lose herself in a fantasy while touching herself, Alan wondered if perhaps this function would never be available to him, as summoning images for daydreams and the like didn’t seem possible, at least not yet.

Until then, though, Alan developed a taste for bossing Lily around in the bedroom. She supposed were anyone else to know that her mechanical lover got off on the idea of his human bowing down in servitude; this would set off major alarms, but Lily couldn’t be bothered. She loved Alan’s firm hand, and as he raised his wide palm high in the air, tugging down her panties, she tingled.

“Alright, I will begin at five percent.” Alan stated clearly as he positioned over Lily.

“Okay, I’m ready.”

A crack of flesh and Lily squealed. No, she was not ready. If that was five percent, a horror dawned on Lily at the idea of what Alan could do to her were he to utilize the entirety of his strength. 

“How was that?” 

Alan peered around at Lily’s blinking face and she nodded. “Good, good.” As the initial sting faded, Lily realized the contact caught her off guard more than anything and it didn’t hurt nearly as bad as she thought. “Can we try seven percent?”

Double the amount didn’t seem wise, but Lily figured she could take a bit more. “Of course. Ready?”

“Yes.”

Alan’s huge hand smacked her asscheek and, curled over the couch, Lily couldn’t see the wide eyed glee blooming over his chiseled features. “That’s good.” Lily mentally tried to transfer the sensation to her face, and deemed the level appropriate. “Yeah. I think if we stick with seven percent that’ll work.”

“Alright. Good…” Kneading her hip, Alan leaded forward, erection shocking as he glided into the cleft of Lily’s ass through his sweatpants. “Very good…”

“Oh...okay.” Purring in approval, Lily buffed Alan’s crotch and smiled. “Do you want to--”

Huge hands shot out, viper quick and twice as hungry, snatching Lily by the shoulders and spinning her around with a gasp. “Lily.” Alan loomed over her, azure eyes lazer hot and fingers digging, digging, digging into her skin with desirous insistence as the head of his clothed cock prodded her belly. “I want you. On your knees. Now.”

The maddening throb of Lily’s clit unsteadied her legs as she stood transfixed under Alan’s icy blue gaze, nodding. “Okay.”

Alan’s large hand whipped across her face without warning and Lily emitted a high chirp, finding herself blinking in surprise at the side wall. “Lily.” Two fingers slowly, slowly tilted her chin back, Alan’s hollow voice issuing through gritted teeth as he thrust his narrow hips forward, turgid erection even more demanding than his tone. “Call. Me. Sir.”

“Yes, sir.” It took every modicum of Lily’s restraint not to steal Alan’s peeled back pink lips, not to palm his hard cock as Lily bobbed her head. Stepping aside to the bare patch of carpet, her emerald eyes never left Alan’s uneven, lust-drunk gaze as she sank to her knees, pussy throbbing at the sight of his big hand stroking down the thick column beneath his gray sweats as he offered Lily one curt nod of approval.

“Now.” Alan’s fingers ghosted over Lily’s cheek with remarkable tenderness as his large feet circled. “I want to tie you up. Lily.”

Fidgeting with the hem of her skirt in an effort to avoid touching herself, Lily nodded exuberantly. “Fuck. Yes. Okay, Alan. Good.”

A radiant sting of his massive palm crashed into her cheek and Lily rocked to the side. “What were my instructions?” Alan bent carefully at the waist, unblinking and voice strangely soft, almost as if he truly didn’t remember and expected Lily to inform him as he tilted his head and narrowed his sapphire eyes. “You seem to have difficulty following my orders. Lily.”

“I’m sorry, sir.” Lily unconsciously leaned toward Alan. “Please, sir. Tie me up. I would love it.”

In that moment, the sneering smirk decorating Alan’s beautiful face, prominent left brow arching, caused a drip of anticipation to trickle down Lily’s inner thigh as he straightened up. “I am aware.” Alan pointed a finger firmly at Lily’s forehead before directing to the floor, all the while the blue razors of his eyes never leaving her for a second. “Wait here. I expect you to be naked when I return.”

Longingly tracking the curve of his hefty erection with her viridescent gaze as Alan padded past, Lily quickly disrobed, squirming over the carpet as she listened to Alan moving around the house. His heavy footfalls ascending the stairs. A faint rustling above. Before his returning steps set every faint hair on her body to attention before he ever entered the periphery of her vision, before Lily ever spotted the coarse rope wrapped around his huge fists.

“Lean back.” A glitter of amusement shone in Alan’s mechanical blue eyes as he stretched the cord taught before Lily’s face. “Grab your ankles. Hold still.”

“Yes sir.” Lily arched back obediently, shivering when Alan’s broad shoulder brushed hers as he knelt down. 

With time, Alan learned that though he could tie knots more quickly and efficiently than any human alive, taking things slow, drawing out the act, had certain...advantages. And so he looped a harmless curl briefly around Lily’s neck from behind, allowing her to sense the abrasive fibers against her tender flesh. He let his long fingers trail over every inch of Lily as he worked, relishing how she tried to nudge into his touch as the bonds circled her chest, her hips, her thighs, before he secured her wrists to her ankles in unforgiving repose.

Alan came back around to face Lily and she tucked her chin down to watch, knees spreading in an effort to maintain her balance. “Lily.” Hooking his thumbs under the waistband of his gray sweatpants, Alan approached, cock almost painfully hard with need. He didn’t know why, but something about seeing Lily down and bound flooded him with exhilaration. Alan tugged the fabric off, his massive erection springing free as his shapely legs straddled Lily’s splayed form and he scooped a sizable hand behind her head. “Open your mouth. Now.”

“Yes si--” But before she could complete the second syllable, Alan drove into the delectable heat of Lily’s throat with a grunt, left eye white in his skull as he crammed her lips down to the root of his huge cock.

“Li-ly…” Lily loved how in these instances Alan seemed to almost short circuit with the weight of his want, monotone stammering as his sharp jaw dropped and he rolled his hips into the slippery warmth over her tongue.

It surely differed from the first time Lily attempted to suck his cock. After Alan achieved consciousness, Lily wanted to bring him pleasure, too, especially considering all he’d done for her over the recent months. And so, Alan on his back in bed, Lily wrapped her lips around him and set to work.

But Alan just...laid there. Unbreathing. Unmoving. Silent. After a couple of minutes, Lily truly felt as if she were slobbering on an inanimate sex toy. Popping off, Lily raised a ginger brow. “Uh...Alan?”

“Yes. Lily?” Alan lifted his head from the pillow and blinked down at her curiously.

“Does this…” Lily eyed the stiff cock in her hand and frowned. “Does what I’m doing feel good? Do...do you want me to change anything?”

Shaking his head, Alan smiled warmly. “No. It feels good. Lily. Thank you.”

“Then…” Eyes shifting, Lily shrugged. “Could you...show me that? Maybe?”

Alan came up on his elbows and tilted his chin. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” Lily dropped Alan’s erection and sat back on her heels. “When you go down on me, what happens?”

Flitting through files containing the hundreds of instances in which he made a home between Lily’s thighs, Alan blinked. “Many things. First, your heart rate increases. Body temperature. Muscle tension. You make a series of noises, though I’ve noticed if I change my technique by--”

“Yeah exactly.” Lily held up a palm to stop him, not particularly thrilled at the idea of hearing her orgasmic response repeated clinically by her partner. “So...can you do that? So I know you’re enjoying yourself? Otherwise…” Shaking her head, Lily sighed. “I don’t know if I’m doing a good job or not and, well...it’s just not very fun, to be honest…”

Once again, Alan reviewed his experiences with Lily before carefully nodding. “Alright…” Alan narrowed his azure gaze, contemplating. “But. Lily. Often when I am performing oral sex you will...scream. Thrust. Grab my head. Are all of these actions permissible in return now?”

Lily’s eyes widened, a tingle lighting over her fair skin as she took in Alan’s earnest expression. “Yeah, yeah...if...if that’s. If you felt like you wanted to. Of course, sure. That would be…” Swallowing, Lily didn’t notice her fingers bunching in the sheets. “Hot.”

Alan licked his pink lips in anticipation, more excited than he would’ve thought as Lily took his cock in hand once more. “Okay. Good.”

When Lily ensconced Alan in her throat again, the drastic change caught her off guard at first.

And the same thing happened to her now as she knelt in their living room. Alan’s long body became a topsy turvy ride of ecstasy as two large hands threaded into her crimson waves. For the first few minutes as Alan swiveled into the enchanting moisture, nothing but repeated, flat, “ _ Yes. Yes. Yes. _ ” rained down upon Lily as she fought to control her gag reflex, eyes streaming and drool dribbling onto her breasts.

Seeking his own pleasure was counterintuitive to Alan’s programming. And yet, as his sex life with Lily progressed, he admittedly enjoyed when she let him take control like this, when she freed him to experience the thrills of his body. Buried in her throat, broad back curling and belly pudge flapping repeatedly into her forehead as he descended into a series of deep, grunted, “ _ Uhhh _ ’s”, in truth, Alan never felt more human.

“ _ Lily. Lily. Lily.” _ Alan rammed into her hoovering lips with a velocity unattainable by the pelvis of the average man, his massive cock pummeling Lily’s throat without apology. Knees bent and arms coiling about her head, the high screech blossoming above alerted Lily to his end as Alan’s thick thighs quaked. “ _ Lily! Lily! Yes! YES!” _

Three jabbing strokes rocked Lily to the side, Alan tearing at her scarlet mane as his left eye fluttered and his sculpted jaw hung open in ardorous wonder. 

When it came to the absence of Alan’s cum, Lily found herself divided. Though never a connoisseur, per se, for the taste, she did miss this proof of Alan’s elation. And, once in a while, Lily thought the idea of incorporating cum play into their bedroom activities might even be a bit fun. But after perusing the AlanCorp website and seeing that she would need to return Alan in order to have the ejaculate equipment installed, Lily sternly decided against this option. What if his love for her truly was a glitch, and the employees detected the error, and fixed Alan? No… Not worth the risk.

And so Lily contented herself with Alan’s dry, although incredibly loud and rambunctious, orgasms, blinking as he pulled his damp cock free from her swollen lips. 

Alan steadied himself, lifting the waistband of his sweatpants before hurriedly unzipping his hoodie. “Lily…” Shrugging off the sleeves, he gently wiped the tears, the saliva, from her flushed face, grinning as the fabric cleared away the tracks of his ruthless rapture. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Alan arched a prominent brow and Lily smiled. “Sir.”

Standing, Alan shed his undershirt and sweatpants, naked and nodding before moving behind Lily. “Come on.”

“Whoa!” With a singular massive fist, Alan snagged the rope holding Lily’s four limbs and effortlessly hoisted her into the air. Swinging alongside him like a piece of luggage, Alan carried her casually upstairs, Lily’s view of the steps occasionally interrupted when she glanced aside to take in the view of his flexing legs.

The perspective of approaching her bedroom inches from the floor proved unusual and Lily hissed in a breath when Alan swung her up and onto the mattress, landing with a soft thunk and an, “Ope!”

Alan giggled. Lily didn’t hear this sound often. Almost never. It took a lot to tickle Alan into laughter. She tried watching comedies with him, but he sat and dissected the movies in silence. When Lily asked Alan if he thought they were funny, Alan said yes, but his brain simply spent too much time analyzing the reasoning behind the humor, and couldn’t relax into glee.

So to usher him into his high pitched, shoulder shaking, left eye slivering mirth filled Lily with love and a tiny hint of accomplishment as she hopelessly wriggled atop the sheets. “Oh you think you’re so funny, don’t you, Alan?”

“Yes.” Alan joined her on the mattress before his big hands hooked under Lily's arms and hauled her aloft. “I do.”

Lily wobbled in the air, trying not to laugh at Alan’s beaming expression as he shrugged down onto the bed and his powerful arms guided her spread legs over his sturdy jaw. “Lily. Yes…” Perfectly situating her drenched pussy over his twirling tongue, Alan hummed with appreciation as Lily’s plush thighs surrounded his sharp cheekbones.

“Oh fuck...Alan, yes…” Something about being unable to snatch at Alan’s hair, about him directing her every movement and only allowed to grind her hips fervently into his lapping mouth, riveted Lily, and she tossed her head back and gave in to the delirium. “ _ Fuck! Alan! Fuck! Yes!” _

Consuming Lily’s soaking pussy as though designed specifically for that purpose, and, well, he was, Alan smacked a wide palm over her ass. Again and again and again, shoving her thrashing body onto his strong jaw with each slap as his supple lips closed around her engorged clit and began to suck.

“ _ Oh Alan! Fuck! Yes! Just like that! I love when you suck on my clit! You’re so damn good! Fuck! I love you so much! Keep going! Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!” _ Drowning in tremors, the rope bit into Lily’s wrists as she folded forward, eyes rolling as she shrieked. “ _ Fuck! I’m cumming! I’m cumming!” _

As Lily seized, Alan backed off, pressing gentle kisses to the lips of her pussy and discreetly sneaking a hand down to pump his burgeoning erection. The first time Lily discovered Alan possessed no refractory period, he threw her off kilter. Slamming into her fervently, Alan came loud and fast and, having jumped from the cliffs of lust several times already herself, Lily expected them to stop and settle in for the night.

But with a half moan and an arch of his wide back, Alan propelled into her with fresh abandon, rock hard. Lily blinked in confusion, polishing his prominent cheekbone. “Alan, you…” Speaking above the squeaking mattress, Lily cleared her throat. “You...you can have multiple orgasms? You can...keep going?”

“Oh.” Alan glanced between them at their joined bodies and nodded. “Yes. I can.”

Lily looked down at where Alan plowed within, awestruck. “Really? Like...like how many times?”

Shrugging a broad shoulder, Alan simply replied, “Forever.”

And so, as Lily shook atop Alan’s gorgeous, devouring face for the third time, screams making her throat almost as raw as the rope made her wan flesh, she cried out in desperation. “ _ Alan! Fuck me! Sir, please! Please! Fuck me! I want your cock so badly! Please!” _

Though Alan developed a taste for teasing Lily, whenever that high, needy note entered her voice, he couldn’t help but give in to her every request. Hastily lifting her, Alan sat up, cheeks shining with her essence as he carefully lowered her into his lap. “Lily. I want you, too.” 

Straddling him awkwardly in her bonds, Lily squirmed as the wide head of Alan’s cock painted through the dew of her pussy. “Alan? Alan, please…” Lily no longer held any shame about begging for Alan. She loved the little glow of pride that adorned his handsome features each time she did. “Please. Untie me. I...I want to hold you.”

“Okay, okay.” Nodding feverishly, Alan experly untied Lily without looking, fingers racing over the memorized knots and sinking into bliss when their arms surrounded one another. “Lily. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Alan.” Lily murmured into his joined ear, lips skipping along the crisp line of his jaw. “I need you inside me. Please…”

“Yes…” Head of his cock breaching her entrance, Alan placed a large palm at the small of her back and scooped Lily close to drive into the constrictive heat of her pussy. “ _ Yes… _ ”

For a time they pulsed together, room peaceful and bodies united as Lily petted through Alan’s rusty tresses and he linked their lips for languorous, patient kisses. But as their pace increased, Lily bouncing atop his muscular thighs and Alan’s sizable hands clawing at her round ass, their mouths became uncoordinated, Lily’s exhalations became pitchy and stilted. And soon they scrambled like two people racing toward the finish line with the promise of a gold medal in sight.

“ _ Oh Alan! Fuck! Fuck! I love the way you fuck me! You feel so damn good! Yes! I love your cock! Don’t stop! Yes! Fuck!” _ Pussy pulsating uncontrollably, Lily panted into Alan’s open mouth, gifting him her breath as her ankles locked behind his back and she pulled him deeper. “ _ Fuck! Alan, I love you so much! Fuck! FUCK!” _

_ “Lily! Lily!”  _ Alan tried to keep his eyes open. Tried to study Lily’s beautiful, contorting face. But his machinery wouldn’t follow his commands as he hectically humped, lips molded to Lily’s and solid chest pained in a way he couldn’t explain. “ _ I love you! Lily! I’m going to cum! Lily! Lily! Lily!” _

Tightening around him as her thighs quivered, Alan’s hips jumped, dragging Lily’s pelvis over his hypersensitive cock as his left eye fluttered and he screeched with delight. “ _ Fuck! Lily! Yes! Fuck!” _

_ “Alan! Fuck! Fuck! Alan!” _ Lily throbbed around his slowing cock, sweating and shivery as their bodies waved into stillness. 

Pink lips touched her cheek, her neck, her breast; Alan’s fingers flowing down her spine as he cradled her near. “Lily.” Alan whispered, nuzzling into her damp skin. “I am so in love with you. It…” Pausing, Alan anxiously tapped Lily’s hips and she pulled her head back, concerned when he wouldn’t meet her gaze. “It...scares me. Sometimes.”

“Why?” Lily delicately lifted his square chin, a lake of uncertainty waiting in Alan’s eyes as he peered up. “Why are you scared?”

“Because.” For the first time, Alan’s voice wavered. “What...what will I do when you’re...gone?”

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, this same thought plagued Lily frequently since she and Alan embarked upon their relationship. “Well…” Lily petted through his reddish brown tendrils and sighed. “I...I don’t know, Alan. I guess...I guess I just hope that day is far off, I suppose.”

Alan took Lily’s hand, interlacing their fingers. “Would you promise me something? Lily?”

“Of course, Alan.” Lily smiled down at Alan before planting a kiss to his high forehead. “Anything.”

“When...if it’s getting close. If you can tell.” Cords of his neck standing out in anguish, Alan searched her face, azure eyes pleading. “Would...will you turn me off? Permanently? Destroy me? I don’t want to keep going without you.”

Throat tight, Lily looked away and retracted from Alan’s grasp. “Oh Alan, I...I don’t know if I could do that…”

“Please…” Alan implored, turning Lily’s face back with a cupped hand. “I want to go with you. To whatever’s next.”

Mouth open, Lily blinked out a tear, harriedly licking at the salt and swiping a wrist over her eyes. “Okay. I’ll...yes. I will.” Lily sniffed and squeezed Alan’s fingers. “I promise.”

Alan took her face in both hands, capturing Lily’s unsteady lips before parting with a solemn smile. “Thank you. Lily.”

That night as they went to sleep, though Lily grew used to Alan laying behind her in alert silence, she, too, found herself awake and mulling for many hours, tormented by thoughts of what their future might hold.

Bleary and exhausted the next morning, Lily thankfully didn’t need to be at work until the afternoon. So, following breakfast, she suggested to Alan they take a luxurious shower together. When she first got Alan she studied the manual, unsure whether he could enter the shower without being damaged. But supposedly waterproof, Lily happily discovered he could join her in bathing and no issues arose.

And Alan gladly pounded her into the tiles. Or gently pulsed inside of Lily while they sat in the tub. But perhaps most of all, she rejoiced in how his big hands would tenderly scrub over her naked body, droplets falling from his reddish brown hair as he peppered her wet skin with soft kisses, the two smiling and soapy and happy beneath the stream.

Stepping out and drying off, Lily passed Alan a towel, smiling when he turned to expose his tiny ass as he scrubbed through his rusty tresses. But when Alan’s head emerged, something shocking caught her attention.

“Alan…” Lily extended her hand, gaze wide and disbelieving as she reached out. “What...what...is that…?”

“What?” Spinning around, Alan tried to look at his own expansive back, alarmed at the expression on Lily’s face, but seeing nothing.

“Just…” Lily turned Alan and held his head still. “Hang on…” 

Alan winced when Lily’s fingers tugged at his scalp. But then, inexplicably, Lily held out a singular gray hair, her green eyes saucers and her mouth agape. “Look.”

Bereft of speech, and for once, thought, Alan stared at this boggling evidence of aging, of humanity, and slowly a grin bloomed over his wide mouth, mirrored by Lily. Not until that moment did he realize the reason behind the strange sensation in his lungs from the night before. 

For the first time, Alan sighed, cobalt eyes wet with hope as he took Lily’s hand. “Wow.”

Rivulets donning her beaming cheeks, Lily sobbed out a laugh. “Yeah, it’s...it’s…”

“I love you, Lily.” Alan fused their lips together, teary and interrupted by boundless smiles.

Clinging to his damp, tall figure, Lily felt Alan’s solid chest rise and fall against her own and her heart burst with gratitude. “I love you, too, Alan.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read! If you enjoyed this story, please leave a comment or come say hi on tumblr at fandomtransmandom. I also accept requests!


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